ee 


\ 


cena HouNiNe 6, iid ae 4 ae = 


ee 


a f:. a 


| Of answer if answer can be found. 


_have kindled the imagination of tne 
romancer? 


a 
|} 


| distinetive tocal coler—-a genuine. tar | 
| —~all her own? And then what values | 
| may be placed upon the work: of 

those who have discovered these char- | 


| vest them with the interest and charm 


| 


{ 


| population and educational statistics. 


pe ace aie ; ie ) Dla: 
(By ‘Louts By Wilson; “Ciprarlan: of the ||. 


niversity of North Carolina.) 


A recent re-reading of “The Little | 
| Shepherd — of Kingdom Come, SP RE 
| Prophet. of the Great. Smoky Moun- 
tains,” and “Creole Days,” with their 


- dividual : characteristics, 
tinctive peculiarities of life has again 


raised in my mind a number of ques-' 
sions concerning the body of fiction || 
having as its “setting” facts and pe-|_ 
culiarities incident to North Carolina | - 


life. Of these, several are wortny 
What, in fact, has been written in 
- fictional form about the Old North 


State? What pages of her. history 


Has the Tar Heél State a | 


acteristics and have attempted to in- 


of story? . 

Biographical, poetical, and histert: 
| cal works, especially the last, based 
on North Caroiina subjects or writ- 
| ten -by -resident North Carolinians, 
have received generuvus attention dur- 
ing the past few years. Hach year 
they have been brought under. care- 
ful review and that production evi- | 
Gencing greatest merit has received | 
correspondingly high recognition. 
| But what of the fiction based on 
North Carolina Hfe? What of the 


many North Carolinians can nhame 


shall speak of the alder-sha de 
or ‘the swirling pools’ from 


note. 
- glow of ‘local color, abundance of in- cree ‘catches will have to 


and dis-| 


| @wirling rapids. 
-eelyed more attention than the un- : 


| tical, and (4) ‘Acsehiptive: 


x ta. G3) 
ody of liter-_ 
tories constitute; | 


feonaia of Notth - Carelpare lif 


trout rose. best. And fra: are the | 


| differences. between the North Caro- 


lina species and the Tennessee ne 
And the weight of som of the 


then. am shall have 


a4 


or ine tants, 
phases of our. life-—whatever we may 
call that woot. out. of, which stories 
are woven—are ‘few as. compared swith, 


“Setting,” or. special 


Anteresting ‘and pic- 
The shaded pools, and the. 
have naturally re- | 


i ip! 
been” equally 


turesque.. 


‘runs through “the open 
Without © attempting: too. 
close a Classification, and_ allowing” 
for occasional, unimportant. excep | 
tions, these settings may be char- | 
“acterized for the sake of distinction 
as: (1) historical, (2) soeial; (3) poli-| 

A A further’ 
subdivision may beomade ofr “these ih 


obstructed 
mea,dows. 


- the interest of greater clearness. The: 


historical may bé divided into three 

representing, respectively, the periods 
of settlement on Roanoke Island, of 
the Battles of Alamance’ and Moore’s 


| Creek Bridge, and of the Revolution. 


The™ social need no division. Recon- 
struction’ times and the_ ‘Wilmington 
Riots | constitute the — political, while 
the - ‘Carolina Banks: and’ the 3! 


older stories as well as the new? How 


three novels written about the State 
ether than those by Thomas Dixon | 
and Christian Reid? . 

AS @ result of our schsol training 
and general reading, we know that 
the fate of the Lost Colony, the Bat- 
tle of Alamance, the Campaigns of {| 
1780 and 1781, and North Carolina’s 
participation in the Civil War have 
been made the frequent subject of 
painstaking ~ historical investigation, 
but we have. failed to learn that }- 
around — these same subjects the 


novels wri 


furnish the two 


‘principal bases for nature. and char- 
acter descriptions. = ~~ : 
The atter_pted Nothleiment of eaan: 


Rac OSES) 
Ridge - Mountains — 


oke Island” in 1587 by Governor Whito 


and the Lo equent ragic fate ‘of .Vir- 
1 nd at the head of the 
et ngs” _which have been 
ory. “A. half ~dezen 
within the pies. twenty 


embodied 


ragedy 4s their eentral 


pas ses veel with the 


drapery of thrilling story and ro-} 
mance have been artistically drawn. 
Ve ure aware, too, that our unsur= | S€ 
passed © mountains of the West—-our 
‘Land of. the Sky’—-are known every- 
where. in America. ‘Daily they are 


/ But seldom has it been even hinted 


jing “the. Spaz sh main, tne long over-| 


{ern ‘shore. 
erected; 
(tween the new comers and tne na- 


of, Darbar: , captains : 
IT TS. Af-,, 
Cpovennee made 


hostile galleons sweep- 


Op. anchor off our east- | 
, Fortresses are quickly 
relations are established be- 


tives; Virginia Dare, the first white | 
child of the new world, is born; } 
leaders are chosen te preside over the 
dostinied: of ‘the colony until it can 

ren} ed. ats : aise als 


o us what the story writer, -with 
eart open to the — _ndeur of moun-| 
neand Peers © and. the infinite. beauty 


- and second 
é battles: af 
ees 
eric a pa 


4 TS, 

ee Caps oan. region ‘and Roan- } 
-oke Island are also. prominent in two 
novels” which — embody. this setting, 
“Wallannah,” by Hurgrave, and “Old 
Dan Tucker,” by Wiley. New Bern's 
‘social life, Tryon’s. vanity and cruel- 
aoe the Regulators’ earnestness, and 
‘the fortunes of battie find expression , 
‘in “Wallannah.” “The Regulators,” 
by Otis, though in. no proper sense 
a novel, fius out ‘the picture of tne, 
times. A different view of the same_ 
scenes is. afforded | by “Old Dan’ 
‘Tucker.’ — 
resentative of the Crown, the ‘‘Bank- 
ers” of Eastern Carolina, | the High- 
landers of the Cane Fear section, the 
‘pre-Revolutionary patricts,. Harnett, 
‘Lillington, and Caswell, appear in the 
igjue of principal protagonists. Fever- 
ish activity characterizes the whole 
setting and predicates the fields of 
‘Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse on 
iwhich wrongs. long. borne without re- 
|dress will be righted. 

The Revolution followed the Regu- 
lation, — The importance of this great: 
American: erisis was so significant that 
‘North Carolina’s brilliant = participa- 
‘tion in it has compelled the interest 
of the nevelist as well as of the his- 
‘torian. But unlike South Carolina, — 
‘the deeds of whose ‘Marions and! 
|Sumters were thrillingly ‘told four. 
decades ago }~ William . Gilmore 
Simms, North .Carolina has had to 
wait these thirty years to find an 
artist to portray adequately the great 
part which she heroically played in 
that grim struggle. I purposely ex- 
clude “The. sei nets Nest£,”’. by Roe, 
and “Alamance,” by Wiley,., though | 


| Kevolutionary incidents, because they | 
are in no true sense genuine fiction. 
Vit remained for Mrs. Kennedy and 
Mr. Brady, in “Joscelyn.: Cheshire” 
and “When Blades are out and ‘Love's | 
jAfiela” to write realistically..of those 
stirring times. Central Carolina— | 
fiom Hlillsbore to Salisbury—is the 
scene of action, The staffs of Greene 
and Cornwallis, the ranks of the two 
-gbattle lines, and the members of 
tory and patriot households along the 
lines of march from Cowpens — to 
Yorktown, furnish the heroes and 
heroines of these stories, : 

This setting and the first are vastly 


{gifferent. Virginia Dare has been lest 


‘to view on the mist-shrouded shore of 
‘Roanoke. .The cruel, moccasined In- 
dian, then the victor, now the van- 
quished, has taken his silent trail to 
the distant West. Tryon and Martin 
‘no longer press the yoke of the 
foe upon a lone-suffering colony. 
‘The heroes of Alamance and, Moore’s 
Creek Bridge have passed through the 
‘period of testing and have emerged’ 
‘true, Hiberty-loving American patriots. 


‘The fight for independence is ‘on. The | 


lp eas ‘of a great and noble peo- 
pele is at the dawning. — 

The. seventy years, itercasilne be- 
neaeh 1780 and-1850 contribute noth- 
ig sas historical import to the novel- 
s Although the war, of 1812 fell 


parti 
feprontéjon. 3 
‘to. 860. hirniatien: a most iutaneating 
et ne is peta,” ‘not historical, 
ia { 1 by the fine at- 
3 the wealth: 

ed 


‘fof the Old South. 


Governor Martin, the. rep- | 


written. years ago and dealing. with || 


3 ‘In “The Héirs of 
‘St. Kilda,” a. novel only by courtesy, 
and “Sea Gift,” this. setting furnishes 
the woof for. ‘wholesome, pleasing ro-. 
‘mance. The scene of the former is 
aid at the splendid estates of one of 
the before-the-war families “of the 
jcentral ‘counties of the State-—-Chat- 
rham, presumably. Gentlemen ‘of the 
old gchool, ‘queenly : ladies, imposing’ 
‘mansions, Mctansive servant uarters, 
-himberless: ‘thoroughbreds ~ ‘of horse 
and hound, are “objects around, which 
‘the story centers. School voy’ ‘exper- 
lences near ‘Wilmington, student” Aife 


at the University in ante bellum days, 


lines as participated in by a favored. 
son ‘of the Old South are depicted.in 
“Sea Gift.” Fox hunting and wed- 
dings at the couniry estates, student 
escapades and commencement dances 
at the University, visits te the con-| 
tinent and watering places.in the ac- | 
quisition of culture or m the search 
for pleasure, these and the sentiment 
and luxurious ease of the forties and 
fifties; are the themes. to which we} 
ef a later day turn back in these) 
two stories and ponder. -Iror us its) 
| unreality is its char 
| Two political situations of import-. 
ance have arisen in the State since 
1865,. =f refer to the struggles for 
party supremacy during reconstruc- 
tion days and -the political conditions 
\which precipitated the -Wilmington | 
riot of 1898, “A Fool’s Errand”? and 
“The Marrow of Tradition’ embody | 
them respectively. “The: Leopard's 
Spots;” covering the greater part of 
the three decades crate L870 te 1960, 
-embraces both. “A description of | 
either is unnecessary here; for every 
detail of the misery and horror of the | 
former is only too well known by us, 
and the latter is still painfully fresh | 
in. our memories, 

' As might naturally be expected, the 
beauty of Western- North Carolina | 
mountains and the picturesqueness of 
the motintaineer’s character have -re- 
peatedly been treated by the novelist. 
In “The Land of the Sky,” by Chris- 
|tian Reid, valleys, peaks, sunshine, 
shadows, the ever-changin= appear- 
ance of the mountains themselves | 


| 


1 


| 
| 


| 


and their slumbering mysterious spirit || 
are themes of compelling interest. 
‘Louisiana,’ “A Tar Heel Baron,” 


“The Frophet. of the Great Smoky 
Mountains”’-—I might mention a dozen 


-and scouting duty beyond the Union | 


j swamp and forest, fill every page with 


(boro patriot. 


| Co pies. 


of most’ readable stories—have made 
a splendid background of these char-!) 
j acteristics against which they. have 
ters of the mountains... And these 
sons and daughters, what of them? 
Their. separation’ from the outer 
world, their silence, their indenend- 
enee, their fidelity, their nearness to 
the heart of nature, their kinship to 
the mounitsins about them, their loves, 
their hates—these :are, if I mistake 
;not, and will continue 'to be the sub- 
jects of North Carolina’s best fiction. 
Here is “material Gt for the master’s 
hand. 

A&A eareful consideration of the fore- 


going leads to the cunclusion that | 


‘North Carolina has a history and life 
| so characteristically her own that she 
‘will always invite the attention of the 
‘novelist, — The settlement of I oanoke 


presented the native sons and daugh-j, 


bravely, While “My Lady Pocahon-! 
tas,” “Wutaw,” and “Red Rock” are 
based. on conditions similar to these 
portrayed in “John Vytal,” “Joscelyn 
Cheshire,” and-'The Leopard’s Spots,” 
tespectively,. there was but.one Noriu 
Carolina among the original colonies, 
and there is but one North. Carolina 
today... Of Western North Carolina 
this is doubly true. Its mountains 
and thetr sons have’ been marked for 
artistic presentation. Both are to 
have their Cables and Allens just as 
Louisiana and Kentucky have had 
theirs; for in the grandeur of the one 
and the strength of the other is that 
which. will have itself told in story. 
North Carolina’s best fiction is yet to 
find its basis in this setting. 
As my reading has not been so ex- 
i 


‘\tensive as to bring every setting em- 


bodied in our fiction to my attention, | 
iso has it also not beem-so eritical as | 
to enable: me to judge finally of the 
worth of each story read. Consequent- 
lly, whatever value —£ may place on'! 


any particular volume or volumes will 


be estimated in aceord with my own 
opinion and will not necessarily be | 
considered the result. of. careful in- | 
vestigation and critical comparison. | 

Of the Virginia Dure stories, “John 
Vytal’ is especialy well conceived and 
executed. The days of Raleigh, Drake, 
and the Spanish main are: vividly por- 
trayed. Skillful fencing, Jjesuitical 
trickery, the dread of stealthy Indian- 
craft, the silence of interminable 


a 


a wonderful, realistic picture. Char- 
actezs are strongly cast and the story | 
has charm and Vitality. 

“Joscelyn Cheshire’ has the right: 
of way over “When Blades are out} 


larid Love’s Afield” and other Revolu- | 


tionary ~ stories. One could not help; 
loving the spirited Hillsboro Tory 
maid and honoring the brave Hills- 
There is something tart 
in all of her sayings, and in her od 


there is # love of which her heroic 
nee can wee ‘Strive te be the Dos- 
sesso 

“Sea: ditt, * though almost unknown 
to the recent North Carolina , public, 
hoids and will continue to hold a 
warm place. in the hearts of all those 
who are fortunate enough to find and 
read one of the tong out-of-print 
The one copy at the Univer- 
sity library has. been constantly read 


sand zealously suarded these last dozen | 


years, for. every son of. the University 
who would ‘know the traditions of his 
alma ‘mater in the golden days of the 
for ties and fifties gocs to it gnd ‘loses 


himself in the glamour and romance 
ef its pages. Though this copy has 
never been issued for reaaing outside 
the Hbrary- building, and consequently 
‘has been read under difficulty, I have 
yet to see a reader who has found 
nis way into its pages stop, finally, 
until the last page has been finished. 

The Tourgee, Dixon, and Chestnut 
stories (the last by a hegro originaly 
from Wilmington or Fayetteville) 
have been sufficiently. exploited te 
ineed no review at. my hands. It may 
l suffice to s that they . present in 
strong, vigorous fashion the bitterest 
political “struggles through which 
North Carolina has passed. While 
they are not the most pleasant read- 
ing and are bitterly partisan, they ase 
exceedingly valuable in filing out the 
histerical story of the seventies and 
late nineties. They supplement and 
make living the thrilling experiences 


of. those stormy days... 


RE 


fi 
> 


iow 


we the 


eo 


Ess _ Appendix. ; 

te ‘settings’ considered ove: 
along, with others not. included in the 
voedy of the paper, are. to. be found 
a the following list of fictional works 
“which. relate in whole or in part to. 
‘North..Carolina. — “Hf other titles are 
known, and there must be a number 
-of such, I should be glad to be in- | 
rmed concerning them, 
Altsheler, whe Au; My Captive; 
ton Ww York, ete: 

igs es a ie, Forget-me-nots of the 
Fleming, St. Louis, | 1909. 
Bie Maia, Jack ‘O'Doon, | “Holt, 
Tk, 1894) Pe tent 

C. T., When Blades are out 
<Afield. _ Lippincott, Phila~ 


foes ye 

_. Brya E. Cy Tar Heel Tales. 
‘Stone, Charlotte, 1910, 

is Burnett, OE. ET, Louisiana. Serib- 
ner, New York, 1907, 

ae Carter, -oM. WN: North Carolina 
‘Sketches, | McClurg, Chicago, 1900, 

_- Chestnutt, Cc, W., Marrow of Tradi-- 
tion, Houghton, Boston, 1961, 

Churchill, » Winston, The Crossing. 
“Macrnillan, New Yetk, 1907.- 

i Clements, ‘Marie, Lillian De Vere. 
Seroll Publishing Co., Chicago, c. 1902. 
’ Devereux, Margaret, : Plantation 
ie Ube wat nS bie Eerebridge, 

‘Dickson, ee ‘OH, Ralph Fablan’s 
“MistAtees, Broadway Publishing Co., 
“New York, c. 1908. 

Dickson, S. O’H:, Reuben Delton, 
ar Presbyterian Com, of Pub. 
Richmond, 1900, 
ie Dickson, S O'H. ., Story of Marthy, 
Sich ete Com. of Pub., Richmond, 
Ge 

_ Dixon, Thomas, — Leopard's - Spous. 
Weasels New York, 1906. 

Douglas, J. J., Girdle of the Great. 
Bippawer ‘Publishing Co., New York, 


e. 190 
William, Pine Ridge 


Drysdale, j 
ve antation. © Crowell, New York,-1901. 


Apple- i 


im 


ae Dugger, +S. M., Balsam ‘Groves: of 
Grandfather Mountstn, : 
RS O18 98 50 os 


Dugger, 


¢ Highlanders, 
8 Co.. ; 


‘Edwards, ‘Raleigh, . 1898. 


| Clure, New York, 1900. 


Boston, 1907. 


‘Fords, New mores 18809. 
‘New. York, c. 1882. 


‘Street, New. York, c. 1896. 


‘Tory. and ableton, 
19069. 


sina, Dare. 


‘Tucker. 


‘Margaret. 


Sekar oa Moles: tein Cui: 
‘Printing Co., Wilmington, 


Jerome, Ge Rul Klux Klan No. 


. 0. Edwards, Raleigh, 1895.- 


Kennedy, S. B,, Joscelyn Cheshire, 
| Doubletay New York, L904 2%: 
L. ee “Leonora, Neale,’ New 


f destiny of the. 
Roxburgh _ Publishing 
1916, 

“Moore, he We Heirs. ne St. “Kilda, 


| Eawards, Raleigh, 1881. 


he enres: stories mentioned fieee. ig ‘Murfree, —M. N., Prophet of - the 
insight, sympathy, « truth, beauty. “Great Smoky Mountains, - Houghton, 
‘There is thé’ approuch to tho really Boston, 1886. 
‘great story, ‘They give the promise . Nicholson, Meredith, Little Brown 
(of vital fiction, the realization of Jug at Kildare, Bobbs, Andianapolis,, 
which i believe will yet be ‘Splondidly | 1908. ae 

ne Osborne, Mrs. ‘Under. 


‘Golden Skies. 
Otis, James, With the. Regulators 


Burt, New York e€, 1901. 


‘Paine, D. C.,° Maid of oe NRE 
‘tains, — Jacobs, Philadelphia, 1906. 
Payson, W. F., John. Vytal. UHar- 
per, New York, 1901. 
- Peake, EH. B., The Darlingtots, Mc- 

Pelton, M. S. G., Tar Heel Baron. 
Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1903. 

Pool, B. F., The Eyrie. Broadway 
Publishing Co,, New York, c. 1905. 

‘Reid, Christian, Land of the Sky. 
Appleton, ‘New York, 1907. 


‘Roe, BE. P., Hornet’s Nest. Dodd, 
/New York, ¢. 1892. : 
 §., I. A. B., Virginia Dare. Whit- 


taker, New York, 1892, 


“Skitt,’ Fisher River Scenes hea 
Characters. - Harper, New York, 1859. 
_ Stowe, H. B., Dred, a Tale of the 
Great Dismal Swamp. Houghton, 
Boston, 1896. 

Thompson, A. E., Polly of the Pines. 


‘Lothrop, Boston, 1906. 


' ‘Thurston, Lucy, Jenifer. Little, 
-Tourgee, A, W., A. Royal Gentle- 
man. Fords, New York, c. 1874. 
Tourgee, A. W., Bricks Without 
Straw. Fords, New York, c. 1880, 
Tourgee, A, .W., Fool's Errand. 
Tourgee, A..W., John ‘Fax. . Fords, | 
Toure , A. W., ‘Zouri’s Christmas. 
Foe Ne we York, c. 1881, 
Tracy, J. P., The Blockade Runner. 


On Guard! Against 
Little, Fed 


True, J.. 


Ly The Daughter of. Vir- 
‘Neale, New York, 1908. 
S +i: Adventures of Old Dan 
“Willoughby, London... 
Wiley, C. H., Alamance. Harper (?) 
Wilson, Wy T.,: For the Love of Lady 
Stone, Charlotte, 1908. 
‘Worth, Nicholas, The peather ere 


‘Wall, M. 
Wiley, ¢ 


} 


Doubleday, New York, 1909, 


